NOTHING NEW IN CLARKE'S 'NEW' GENERATION

Jennifer Clarke could have chosen more appropriate music than Dixieland to
usher in "a new generation of leadership" Saturday, when she announced her
intention to run for the NPA mayoral nomination. More suitable, all things
considered, would have been something from B.C.'s Juno award-winning
Swollen Members.

Speaking of which, the crowd-at least, those not in the employ of Clarke's
media guy, Norman Stowe-included a delightful collection of well-heeled
friends: old York House pals, Crofton House buddies and a broad
cross-section of the city's doctors and lawyers.

The location raised a few eyebrows: the seawall, just a short dagger thrust
away from Philip Owen's new Yaletown front door. It was not the most
appropriate spot, given Clarke's attempts to distance herself from the coup
that unloaded the mayor from the NPA ticket. Of course, the Sgt. Schultz of
city politics would say she knew nothing about this. Blame Stowe. He's been
planning this moment for years.

Clarke did say the site was chosen because it showed off a revitalized
downtown core. If that were the case, though, the former television
producer would have had her back to the development to include it in all
the TV shots and commercial footage Stowe's crew was shooting. Instead, her
back was to south False Creek, where city hall-the object of her unbridled
ambition-was framed neatly behind her.

Forgive Clarke for any unevenness here. Her team began cranking out her
campaign literature after the Owen coup and before he decided not to run.
It was thus filled with dire warnings about Owen letting the evil NDP-COPE
monster in by splitting the vote "as happened in the 1996 provincial
election campaign."

Owen's decision to pack it in caused a quick shift of gears. Saturday,
Clarke was all kissy, kissy. Phil's not heavy-he's my mentor.

As for issues of substance, what is this "new generation of leadership"
Clarke is on about? The NPA councillors posed behind Clarke looked pretty
much like the old generation of leadership, even though senior NPA
councillor Lynne Kennedy and civic antiquity George Puil were not there.

Clarke herself is not new. She's been on council for nine years. One of her
promises, to create a transit line to Richmond down Cambie, is not new
either-it's been around for decades. Gordon Price reminded us of that. He
explained that Clarke first appeared before council on that very issue,
before she was ever elected.

She wanted to make sure the proposed transit line to Richmond didn't go
through her creme-de-la-creme neighborhood, past her home on the Arbutus
corridor. Cambie was better for her then and still is now.

Price also said: "Jennifer's got a fresh take on Vancouver." That's odd
because her plans are standard civic boiler plate. Safer neighborhoods,
better transit and support of the Olympics are stuff of most speeches by
city politicians in most cities in North America at one time or another.

Clarke will change one thing, which explains why Richard Lee was in the
weekend crowd to cheer the mayor apparent on. Lee is the lawyer who heads
the Community Alliance, a small but influential group from Gastown,
Chinatown and Strathcona that opposes Philip Owen's drug policy and
infiltrated the NPA board to help get rid of him.

When she was asked about Owen's so-called Four Pillars Approach she called
it a good "conceptual framework," a smooch of death if ever there was one.

In Clarke's Vancouver, the policy will likely wither, safe injection sites
will never exist and the status quo that was briefly shaken by Owen-and
even stirred-will applaud one of their own for coming to their aid.

Could we hear a chorus of "When the Saints Come Marching In?"